Default value nulls in Cognito Forms

Question

Yes/No boxes always have a default value. Often I want a second box to appear if the value is yes, or a third box to appear if the value is no. Because there is a default value for yes/no, my second or third box is always showing.

I don't want this. I only want the second or third box to appear once the user has checked yes or no in the first box.

To get around this I can use a “choice” box with drop downs and have one of the values as null or blank. However, this means that my form contains a mixture of radio buttons and drop downs which looks ugly.

I could use radio buttons for a choice box but then there would be an odd looking null/blank radio button set as default.

Can default be turned off for yes/no boxes?

Answer 1

I'm a developer with Cognito Forms. Unfortunately, a checkbox can only have two states, checked or unchecked, which equates to true or false in the context of a calculation. However, I do believe you can accomplish your requirement by using the "Radio Buttons" option for the Choice field, without it looking strange or odd. A Choice field does not require a default value therefore you do not need a third option to represent that null state. For a choice field to not have a default selection, the checkbox next to all Choices should be unchecked. I included a couple of screenshots to help explain this configuration. The first one is the configuration for the "Radio Buttons" Choice field and the second is a Yes/No field configured to be visible when the Choice field value is "Yes". I hope this helps. Hopefully, I am not misunderstanding your requirement.